Photo courtesy of and copyright to Penny Gadd
The Wisdom of Lady Margaret
Being married to a Rear Admiral, it’s no surprise that Lady Margaret favours the nautical metaphor. Moving to a bigger house, she gathered us together to announce that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” without giving a moment’s thought to the boats who’d be getting up 30 minutes earlier to light five extra fires and shine twice as many brass knockers.
Recently, she’s been heard to say that “we’re all in the same boat”. I suppose, in a sense, we are. Same boat, same storm. But only some of us are in steerage, avoiding rats and bailing out the bilge.
Extroduction
Not my favourite phrase of the era, as you can probably tell. I do enjoy a bit of Zac Brown Band though:
elmowrites 
We all know a Lady Margaret. Still, it takes all sorts to make a world.
It does indeed. And I don’t think Lady Margaret is cruel, just clueless. At least in this case.
I like the direction you go with this. People like Lady Margaret are clueless.
Thanks!
A grear first line to launch the story there.
🙂 That one came to me in the shower, along with the character of the lady herself; I’m glad you liked it!
Lady Margarets can be found everywhere, and each of us has been one every once in a while
We certainly have; I think it’s impossible not to be sometimes, but boy are they hard to stomach when you’re on the other side!
…which should give each of us an incentive not to be a Margaret. We can’t all wait for other Margarets to make the first move or it will never happen
I liked that. Well done, Elmo.
Thanks!
Your story reminded me of how they loaded the passengers onto the insufficient number of lifeboats as the Titanic was sinking. Fun story with a biting message.
I actually thought about Titanic as I was coming up with this one. A great example of same boat; different circumstances.
Dear Jen,
Stinging message between the lines. And the last line is a sucker punch. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
As Larry pointed out, I’m sure we’ve all been Lady Margaret at times, but this particular phrase has been thrown around too much the last year, IMO. I appreciate the response: “We’re all in the same storm; the differences between our boats have never been more pronounced.”
Bless Lady Margaret, she probably thinks she’s paddling as hard as anyone, because she’s never actually glanced outside her boat.
Haha, yes indeed.
Elegantly executed, with a real wry bitterness in the narrative. Lovely, Jen.
Thanks, Sandra.
Like the metaphor. This piece speaks deeply to our current situation, does it not? Those of us in steerage would like to throw a few overboard. Maybe we ought to say something to the Captain about that.
I’ve been wondering, if we’re all in the same boat, why do some people appear to be drilling holes in the hull?
Yep, there is that. Today I heard of a third variant…Alpha… Now headed our way
A tale of them and us. Nice one.
Not the same boat but definitely in the same storm! Some have luxury yachts while others are stuck in dingies dotted with holes… Excellent write, Jen.
Lovely, Downton Abbey sentiment or upstairs downstairs and we are all servants to earn our keep.
She is right though I don’t think she will every realize just how right she is. Great take.
You take a cliche and turn it into a biting metaphor about privilege. Nice work!
I particularly enjoyed the last line. Sums it up.
Nicely written story, I like the way you ended it.
Stay Safe 😷 Isadora 😎
Ooopppsss … forgot to mention, I enjoyed the video : )